More Like a Nightmare
by 93FlutterBys
Summary: It is the morning after the reaping, and Katniss wakes up... Everything she thought was true, was just a dream. This is my first piece of FanFiction, please read and review. I would be grateful for any feedback.
1. My Nightmare

DISCLAIMER: _I do not own The Hunger Games Trilogy nor the characters. They are property of Suzanne Collins. I am not making profits nor am I using ideas from anyone else in my writing._

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first piece of FanFiction. I would love feedback.

Katniss awoke in a startle, and she started to weep because she realized Prim wasn't there. They refused to let her volunteer as the tribute, and her Little Duck was about to join Peeta in the 74th Hunger Games. She was absolutely terrified for her little sister. She knew that the things she had dreamed up were just that, dreams. -More like nightmares, but really is there a difference in a world ruled under the Capitol and President Snow's tyranny?

In all honesty, it felt surreal. Katniss felt like her entire world would never fall back into place. She was terrified for her sister. Prim knew nothing that Katniss did about hunting and surviving in the woods. She had not held the responsibility of keeping everyone together the year after their father had passed away. Her mother checked out, and Katniss took care of her Little Duck. Prim had never been to The Hob, nevertheless the arena of the Hunger Games.

Her mom was awake already, and as Katniss got out of bed, she started to feel the emotional exhaustion that would plague her life for as long as she was apart from her little sister. She knew her mom felt it also, but she was worried about her mother falling apart again. The thought of losing her little sister just overwhelmed her more than she cared to admit at this point. And heaven forbid she let her mother know her fears, her mom might actually just fall apart.

Gale, of course, would be waiting for her in the main room as he would want to make sure she was feeling okay after the events of the day before. He was there to hold her after they said their goodbyes to Primrose. Prim and Katniss were thoroughly shaken at that point, and honestly Katniss still didn't feel much better, but she could not begin to fathom the terror and fear coursing through her sister at that time either. Sure enough, she walked into the room to find her mother and Gale in a whispered conversation. They stopped when she walked into the room, and Gale stood up suddenly. She didn't have to know what they were talking about. It was what the entire town would be thinking and whispering about.

Gale was the first to speak, "Morning Catnip… Hope we didn't wake you."

"No," Katniss said. 'I was woken by my nightmare."

"Oh," Gale said softly.

Katniss walked to the kitchen where she found a small breakfast laid out for her by her mother (She hadn't eaten since the morning before The Reaping), but she wasn't that interested in food. She was waiting to hear from Primrose. The lady, Ettie- no Eddie, Ellie, Effie. Yes, that was it, Effie. She was supposed to call when they reached the Capitol that morning. As if on cue, the phone rings. Of course, it is not Prim, but rather Peeta's mother wanting to talk to Katniss' mother. They talked for a few moments before Mrs. Everdeen ended the call.

"Peeta just called to tell them they had reached the Capitol, and that they are fine," Mrs. Everdeen sighed.

"Why hasn't Prim called then? What happened? Is she okay?" asked Katniss with alarm.

"No," her mother said calmly, "Peeta said she should call soon, but they have a lunch they have to attend, so it might have to be afterwards."

Katniss walked away silently while Gale poured her water because he knew she hadn't been thinking about herself, and therefore hasn't taken care of her own needs like nourishment. She solemnly accepts the cup as the phone rings. Before her mother can say anything after picking it up, Katniss is at her mother's side, her cup of water lying spilled on the floor and forgotten in the haste.

"Oh hi sweetie," her mother cooed. "Yes, your sister is here too- Oh okay, yes you can talk to her. I love you baby, and alright. Okay." And then she hands the phone to Katniss.

"Yes Little Duck, yes - Me too. I am here. I want to be there. Why? What? Okay, call as soon as you can Prim. Please," she said pleadingly, and then the call ends abruptly.

"She has to go to the lunch with Peeta and that woman Effie. She is supposed to call back later," and with that, Katniss darts from the house.


	2. Holding Together

Katniss is moving through town with swiftness, trying to avoid any prying questions about how she feels. She is keeping her head down and moving fast, but Gale is following, and he is trying to keep up, but he has to run to keep close to her. He is calling for her, but she won't stop for fear of falling apart in front of everyone at The Hob and in front of the Peacemakers. She is moving to the edge of District 12 for the forest where they go hunting for small game.

Just then, Gale grabs her arm, and pulls her to him. He is holding her firmly, and she just falls to pieces in his arms. She finally steps away while still looking down and wipes her eyes. She looks him in the eye and the hurt she feels is reflecting back at her. It is disarming to her because he is able to show her so much empathy with a single glance.

After a few moments, she steps back and reaches for her bow. It is then that she realizes she forgot her bow and arrows so she can't hunt even if she really wanted to. And, as if Gale was reading her mind, he pulls her bow and arrows from his back, and he grins while handing them to her. He has his bow and arrows as well, so they start walking silently through the forest, and the silence is weighing heavily.

Gale finally breaks the silence, and he is talking about his sister when they hear movement, and Katniss stops him suddenly. She draws her arrow, and suddenly she shoots to the tree on her left, and immediately after, there is a thud on the forest floor. Gale walks over and a squirrel is lying there with its mouth agape and an arrow sticking in its eye. Katniss placed it into the bag she had on her hip, and after realizing that Prim had said she would call back after lunch, she put her bow and arrows back on her shoulders.

Katniss said "Gale, thank you. I mean I can't say much else right now because I don't know what to say, but thank you. I need to get back to the house now though. Prim said she would call back, and I want to be there. I know she probably feels really overwhelmed. I want to be there, no I have to be there because she needs me. My mother is not going to be able to help her with anything. She is reverting to how she was after my dad died."

She keeps talking as they turn around, and Gale stops her walking by stepping in front of her, and facing her. He cupped her face and said, "Katniss, you are doing the best you can. You know that this was completely by chance. Your sister has everything you have ever told her, and she has so many talents. The other tributes would be lucky to ally with her. She will have others trying to make alliances almost instantly," he said breathlessly as he gently kissed her on the forehead in an effort to give her comfort.

Taken by surprise at the soft kiss, she mildly gasped, "Gale, I can't right now," and with that, she fled from the forest with the echo of Gale desperately calling for her, "Katniss! Stop! Please Catnip!"

She arrived home to find her mother collapsed by the phone, stammering and crying in a heap. She is crooning into the telephone, "Oh my darling Primrose, why? Why?"

With the second question, Katniss snatched the phone, "Hi Little Duck, oh yes, of course I miss you. Yes, mom is fine. She just misses you too. I want to see you also. How was lunch? Oh really, lamb stew with plums? Oh I am happy for you," she said.

As she is talking a little more, Primrose starts to reveal her fear, but Katniss is reassuring her that she will be fine. Primrose told her about Peeta's conversation with the mentor, Daisi, who won the 57th Hunger Games with her swiftness and ability to create allies. Peeta had warmed to her already, but Prim told Katniss she was apprehensive.

Katniss cooed, "Oh Prim, please listen to her. Try to see her and understand who she is. She can help you in this. She is there to help you. She wants to help you."

Primrose was apprehensive, but Katniss told her to do what she could. Primrose said she would try really hard, but she was still doubting everything. She got off the phone with Primrose so that her sister could meet and eat dinner with her team. She was trying desperately to not cry again, but it was so difficult. She wanted to climb through the phone and hug her sister tightly.

She let the phone slide onto the counter, and then she turned to face her mother who had moved to the couch. She was puffy eyed, blotchy, and distraught. Katniss wanted to criticize her but couldn't find the strength. When she sat on the couch, she looked at her mother once again, and the look she saw was worse than the one after they found out about the accident that caused her dad's death. She wondered if her mother had already determined her sister was going to die.

Interrupting her thoughts, the door had a sharp, rapping knock. Katniss knew it was Gale, but she really did not want to deal with him, and that kiss. It was not the kiss on the forehead that she was used to. There was a caress in that kiss that had never been there- or had it, and she just never noticed or paid attention because she was always so guarded? The past two days seemed like an eternity.

When she snapped back to reality, her mother had gotten up and opened the door, and Gale was standing in front of her. He was cool and steeley on his exterior, but one look in his eyes gave away the fiery core that laid beneath him. He had the look of a wounded dog through that fire, and that hurt Katniss.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I just can't right now Gale, with Prim,and I came home to find mom collapsed on the phone with her. I think she terrified her, and I just want to be there instead of her. Why did-"

He cut her off, "You did what you were supposed to do, you're now doing the job of your mother. You are holding them together. You need someone to hold you together while you're holding everything else together. I want to do that. I am here for you. We have been friends for many years Catnip."

He pulled her chin up. She saw the wounds were still there, but they didn't seem as deep in his eyes anymore. She saw the fire more now. He hugged her tightly, and then let go.

"Thank you Gale," she murmured, "but I still don't know what else to say. I like that you want to take care of me. These emotions are too much for me right now with all this," as she motioned towards her mom in the kitchen and the phone on the counter.

"But I am not saying that you have to say or do anything Catnip," he said as he stroked her braid to the front of her shoulder, "Just let me take care of you. You can do this on your own... I know that. But you don't have to."

Katniss knew she wouldn't win this argument, so she just looked away. They stopped talking just in time to hear her mother say in a hushed tone, "Dinner is done sweetie. Gale you must stay for dinner."

"I can't. I have my family's dinner in my bag" he said as he patted the satchel hanging off his shoulder. And with that, he gave Katniss the tight and quick hug that she was used to receiving. She then realized that she longed for the hug he had given her earlier in the forest. She wanted that kiss on the forehead again, but why? And what was it that was changing between them?

She then snapped back to the dinner she was supposed to be eating, and she looked at the roasted squirrel and soft, reheated potatoes only to realize she still had no appetite. She wondered what her sister was doing at that moment, but then she suddenly remembered Buttercup. She pushed from the table and ran to the back of the house where buttercup was ready to be milked and had been ready for the entire day. She stroked the little goat, and realized that she had to get herself back together. She then milked Buttercup and took the goat's milk to her mother. She would then hand make the bottled milk and cheese for Katniss to take to The Hob to sell. She would be forced to trade it for some of the bread, potatoes, and other supplies they needed for the week.


End file.
